Going into Thursday’s match against No. 15 Notre Dame, the No. 9 North Carolina women’s soccer team had never lost 4 games in row. It stayed that way after the Tar Heels (12-3-1, 5-4-0 ACC) completed a 2-1 comeback win against the Fighting Irish (11-4-1, 4-4-0 ACC).
The first half started slow, but eventually increased in pace. Each team went back and forth, shifting momentum every few minutes. Though North Carolina outshot Notre Dame nine to four in the first half, the chances were about equal.
Notre Dame opened the scoring less than two minutes after the start of the second half. The goal was scored after junior midfielder Sandra Yu made an amazing effort to steal the ball from the Tar Heel defense and deliver a cross to sophomore midfielder Sabrina Flores.
After conceding a goal, however, North Carolina tightened its play and went of the offensive. The Tar Heels had constant pressure and looked dangerous for about 20 minutes, but couldn’t capitalize on any chances.
In the 71st minute, North Carolina finally got the break it was looking for. After some wonderful play in the box by Joanna Boyles, Alexa Newfield was fouled in the penalty box. The official did not hesitate and signaled for a North Carolina penalty. Cool and collected, Newfield slotted the ball in the bottom left corner of the net to equalize.
At this point, North Carolina had all the momentum. Just over three minutes later, the Tar Heels took the lead. It was Newfield who masterfully delivered a free kick to Boyles for the Tar Heels second goal.
Boyles’ fourth goal of the season was too much for Notre Dame to overcome. For the final 15 minutes of the game, North Carolina took control and burned as much time as possible to seal the win and snap the team's three-game losing streak.
Quotable
“I think what I loved about this win was that the past couple games we haven’t really played with any type of fire or played like we were North Carolina, and in this game we showed who we are. We showed our potential. It was just such a huge team.” – junior midfielder Joanna Boyles on her team's victory.
